Women’s Racing League Set to Roll in 2019

Organizers plan to launch an open-wheel motorsports series for female drivers next spring in Europe.

The inaugural “W Series” season will include six 30-minute races throughout Europe, although venues and dates haven’t been finalized. Expansion into Asia, Australia and the Americas is expected to follow.

As many as 20 drivers are expected to compete in the series. Participants will be selected based on track testing, simulator appraisal, technical engineering tests, “fitness” trials and media training.

Drivers will use identical single-seat Tatuus T-318 Formula 3 cars powered by Autotecnica Motori 1.8-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engines mated with 6-speed sequential gearboxes. The cars will be outfitted with F1-style halo safety hoops.

The season champion will receive $500,000. The other drivers will split $1 million, based on points earned.

The stated goal of the series is to help women drivers hone their skills and advance into higher level series, which have long been dominated by men. Women have been held back in the past due to a lack of opportunity and funding rather than talent, according to the organizers.

Women, led by Danica Patrick, have made intermittent in-roads in NASCAR and IndyCar racing over the past two decades. But a woman driver hasn’t started a Formula One race since Lella Lombardi did so in 1976.

In addition to drivers, W Series aims to attract more women to work on race teams and to pursue careers in engineering and science fields.

Catherine Bond Muir, a British sports lawyer and corporate financier, conceived the series and will serve as its CEO. Former F1 team manager Dave Ryan will be the racing director for the W Series, while the advisory board will include former F1 driver David Coulthard and F1 technical designer Adrian Newey.